Believe
by moisesehernandez
Summary: During an excavation in Zaire, 17 year old Elizabeth Shaw and her father find themselves in the crossfire between two powerful corporations as they try to escape with their lives and their relationship intact.
1. 2072 Zaire

2072. Zaire

"Can you see it Elizabeth?"

"Yes Dad, I can reach it too."

"Be careful now, please."

"I can feel it at the tip of my fingers."

"No, let me do it instead darling."

"… Almost there…"

Young Elizabeth Shaw crawled backwards from out of a pit with a small figure caked in mud. A cloud of dust spewed towards her and circled the cavern walls. The hole was barely large enough for the seventeen-year old girl. She beamed up at her father with a face full of dry clay.

"What is it?" Elizabeth peeled away the earth encasing the figure.

Her father used a large brush and examined the details on it.

"Nkisi N'kondi," he said to himself. "Genuine artifact."

"English Dad." She readjusted the flashlight on her helmet and admired the artifact's texture. Elizabeth was sitting with her knees up to her chest as he her dad knelt down next to her.

"I've told you about these ceremonial dolls before. We've seen some back in Congo. This is like it but the story behind these are unique, Elizabeth."

She held it in her own hands and noticed that it resembled a man with dozens of thin nails driven into it.

"Did it symbolize torture?"

"Oh, far from it. These artifacts were actually used by individuals who were looking for justice, for solutions to their problems, and even sometimes protection against malevolent forces. By promising something to the figure a client ensures the assistance of the supernatural forces controlling the figure."

"And the nails?" Elizabeth gently slid her hand over a nail's head.

"Well… after making such an oath the individual would then hammer a nail into the wood to represent the agreement they had just made. It's an eternal pact." Her father watched it longingly. "It's curious to think that man always had the capability to wager with the Gods. Or at least we thought we did."

Elizabeth stood up and moved her flashlight down towards the cave. "There might be more artifacts here."

"No Elizabeth, that's enough for tonight. It's late."

"It's early actually, 3 AM early." She flashed him a sly smile.

"Put a marker on that rock over there and let's head back to camp. We'll pick up tomorrow morning."

Elizabeth wondered how far the cavern went as the end of the light never touched rock. "Wouldn't it be nice to have a mapping probe like you do on your other excavations."

"With the right funding, " her father grunted as he stood up alongside her, "we could. But those excavations are Yutani's projects. I don't really have a say in them." He carefully slid the artifact into his satchel.

A muffled explosion is suddenly heard from within the cave. The rock beneath them vibrates for a moment just before a dust begins to coat their heads and shoulders.

"What was that?" Elizabeth pointed her flashlight down the cavern.

"That didn't sound like it was from inside the mountain," her father whispered. He looked at the walls trembling and then above him. "Elizabeth… let's go."

Another explosion is heard and felt much harder.

"This way Elizabeth."

Elizabeth peeled her eyes away from the darkness and hurried behind her father. The lights from their helmets bounced from wall to wall as they sprinted back to the surface, following orange flags marked alongside the ground.

"Hurry Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth ran harder. Her father latched onto her wrist and pulled her alongside him. A spotlight was scene at the end of the tunnel as it broke through the cavern walls.

"Almost there dad!"

They heard a machine-like whirring sound echo down the cave. It was immediately followed by a thunderous crash. The spotlight went out and a red hot fireball took its place.

Elizabeth and her father stopped dead in their tracks as gunfire was unleashed outside. They were ten feet from the entrance of the cave but they crept forward by the inch. The gunfire continued.

"Dad-"

"Shh!" Her father crawled towards the edge of the entrance and peered outside.

"Is it the rebels?" Elizabeth barely whispered.

No response.

Elizabeth waited for a short while before getting up herself. "Dad?"

Her father was on his knees, hands behind his head, as an techno-armored man aimed a pulse rifle at his head. Elizabeth gasped just as another arm reached out from the darkness of the cave and grabbed her.


	2. Thank you for your service

Thank you for your service.

"Who are they?"

"Yutani bounty hunters."

"But I don't understand…"

"Don't say another word, Elizabeth."

The two techno-armored soldiers were masked and heavily armed. An armored plane was burning wildly several hundred feet away. The hot metal was beginning to set the trees on fire. One of them paced back and forth, watched their every move. Elizabeth and her father were on their knees with their hands behind their heads. The jungle was glowing red and orange beneath the purple night sky.

The other soldier knelt down in front of Elizabeth's father. His helmet's visor lifted, revealing and Asian man.

"Robert Shaw."

"What do you want from us?"

The other soldier raises his gun at Elizabeth's head.

The soldier in front of her father raises his own. "Your contact is hereby terminated with the Yutani Corporation. We thank you for your service."

Movement in the nearby bushes causes the soldier to react instantly. They spun around and begin firing their pulse rifles at the foliage, shredding the leaves and branches into a thousand pieces. Then they stopped. The soldiers walked towards the bushes while Robert Shaw eyed the cave entrance.

"Elizabeth…" Robert whispered.

Elizabeth looked pale.

"When I tell you, I want you to run as fast as you can into the cave."

"Dad-"

"Are you ready?"

Elizabeth nodded.

The soldiers crept closer to the bushes. They used the tip of the rifles to prod the foliage around. The fire continued to blaze near them.

Elizabeth readied her feet and hands. Her father kept his eyes on the soldiers.

The soldiers stepped away from the bush.

"Go!" Robert whispered.

Elizabeth kicked back dirt as she sprinted forward.

"Must've been an animal," one of them replied. The soldier turned around and was suddenly facing a new armored soldier. This one, however, wasn't wearing a helmet. The soldier raised his gun at the intruder but was quickly tossed into the fire. The second soldier began firing his weapon at the intruder. The intruder dodged the attack and fired several shots from a handgun. Each shot entered and exited the soldier's helmet, leaving behind a giant bloody hole. The soldier's body plummeted.

"Run Elizabeth!" Robert shouted.

The intruder noticed Elizabeth running and chases after her with incredible speed.

"Keep her out of this!" Robert grabbed onto the intruder.

The intruder merely swung Robert back and looked at him. The intruder had blonde hair and greenish eyes which scanned Robert from head to toe.

"Robert Shaw?" The intruder asked calmly.

Robert remained silent. He gathered his strength and stood up. Elizabeth watched from the edge of the cave. She couldn't hear what they were talking about so she feared the worst.

The intruder raised a pistol like object at Robert. Robert looked at his daughter from a far and mouthed _I'm sorry_. The intruder pressed a button.

_"Good Morning, Dr. Shaw!"_

Robert flinched. He saw a small hologram of a middle-aged man protruding from the pistol-like apparatus.

"_Aren't we in a pickle this morning_."

Robert sighed. "It's good to see you again Mr. Weyland."


End file.
